Yes, Max Underground is 5 years old today. The first post was made on February 28, 2000. So please get a glass and join us in our toast. Here's to another 5 years of MU!!!

Jörg Gerlach reviews Ornatrix v1.2 for 3D-worXX.com: "The shaders are comprehensive, realistic and easy to adjust." (German)

Lukas Dryja reviews Tomek Baginski's latest animated short film for InsideCG.com.

"Last year's IGDA Quality of Life white paper documented the long hours and pressures exerted on developers and the toll that these problems take on people and companies. There has to be a better way. The Quality of Life Summit will explore the consequences of poor quality of life and ways to improve." The event will take place on March 8, 2005 as part of the Game Developers Conference.

From "Edgeloop Modeling" to "Normal Mapping Production Techniques". Register at Discreet.com.

"Hair and fur seem to be in the spotlight at the moment. So we Swedes had to try it out at www.animate.se. We just finished a competition where a 3D-head was filled with hair using the new Ornatrix plug-in. And the winner was..."

Carl-Mikael Lagnecrantz has just released Polyboost, an extensive set of advanced tools for polygon modeling in Max. Polyboost provides some very useful additions to Max's toolset. More information and some sample videos can be found at Polyboost.com. Also, Mr. Lagnecrantz is a talented artist, his work is definitely worth checking out.

Dublin-based Havok, makers of the software that powers Max's dynamics, will soon be showing a new version of their dynamics simulation software. More information at GamesIndustry.biz.

Dave Yu reviews Imagineer Systems Monet for RenderNode: "... a great tool for replacing [planar] elements."

150 realistic Low Polygon 3D Trees are now available at Got3d.   [ more... ]

(Updated February 23, 2005) Press release finally posted at Discreet's website. According to the PR, Max 7.5 is expected to be available to subscription members in mid-April. New features videos also available.
(Updated February 23, 2005) And now a new Discreet press release has popped up on CGArchitect.com.
(Updated February 16, 2005) Abracadabra! The message at Mr. Alter's site is no more.
(Updated February 16, 2005) But then again, Mr. Alter confirms it (at least the hair part).
(Updated February 15, 2005) Now you see it, now you don't. The PDF has been removed from the site and according to rumors the person that posted it has been seen leaving the city in a hurry with a fake beard and sunglasses.
(Original story February 14, 2005) Discreet seems to have decided to adopt Alter's formula to solve Max's baldness issue. According to a PDF posted on the web, Max 7.5 will include a Hair and Fur extension based on Shave and a Haircut, the latest version of Mental Ray with satellite rendering and new Autodesk VIZ features for design visualization. Discreet has yet to confirm this information.

3DVF reviews Matchmover Pro 3: "... an interesting addition, the RZML format allows you to export your tracking results to ImageModeler." (French)

CG Auctions is a new site devoted to CG e-commerce, eBay style. 3D models, hardware, software, books and more can be sold without any charges through the site.

"This is the first generation of kids who are more likely to die before their parents due to obesity and its related diseases." This statement clearly does not apply to every country in the world, but still obesity is a growing concern in many industrialized societies. Gamasutra has a very interesting article on obesity, passive entertainment vs. exertainment, and the role video game developers could play in helping children lead healthier lifestyles. For those interested, here's also an up-to-date list of overweight population by country. (Note: Registration is required to read Gamasutra's article)

3D y Animación interviews Lucas Ives, TD at Pixar, on his work for The Incredibles. (English|Spanish)

Chaos Group have released an updated beta version of their upcoming fluid dynamics engine chaosAURA. This version fixes several bugs and adds a few new functions. The plugin is in public beta testing at the moment, and this version is time-limited.

SensAble Technologies, Inc. have announced a new plugin due out in March for 3ds max. The ClayTools system uses a virtual clay metaphor that removes the constraints of technical modeling, and offers a true 3D interface with force feedback. Read the whole press release here.

Paul Hormis has generously released many useful scripts that he has developed while working at Blur. He has also posted a tutorial on creating multi layered cloth simulations using separate ClothFX modifiers for speeding up the process. Visit Time-in-Motion.com.

Evermotion announced the 1st volume of their new training DVD series about modeling - Car modeling.

Some great pictures both in the 2D and 3D categories. Check 'em out!

Animate.se has held a 3D animation contest a while ago with the noblest of sports as its main subject. Not all entries are highly polished but most of them are fun to watch. Definitely recommended for football (a.k.a. soccer) fans. The resulting entries have been compiled into a zip file.

YAY! A low-poly parking meter!!! Press Release here

Registration starts soon, and classes will begin on March 21st. Visit AnimationMentor.com for more.

Meshtools 3 & CSPolyTools by Laszlo Sebo and Christopher Subagio (Max R6, R7). This package includes the latest 3.0 version of Laszlo's Meshtools and Chris' PolyTools in one convenient installer. Scripts packaged together by Benjamin Slack.   [ more... ]

This is not a plugin or tool. It's just a Maxscript demo by Enrique Gato to make a little videogame using 3D Studio Max's viewport engine. Enjoy it!
http://www.xaloc.net/imagenes/stuff/freeStuff/MaxTennis_English.ms

Andy Murdock (Lots of Robots) has posted online a couple of experiments he's done using MIDI and Maxscript.

Splutterfish have posted a while ago some rendertests showing off the new motion blur features of Brazil v2.

Oliver Zeller reviews Max 7 for Post Magazine: "... remains a competitive package in all 3D graphic-related fields, retaining its strengths and solidifying other areas."

Juan Antonio Amblés, programmer of the very useful plugin Lightmesh, has joined forces with a few other people to start Toonmarket. Toonmarket offers 3D custom modelling, 2D graphic design, custom 3ds max plugin and Maxscript development and a 3D cartoon models shop. They have also posted a recompiled version of Lightmesh for 3ds max 6 and 7.

The fast development of Ornatrix seems to have stirred the waters. According to a message posted at Discreet's forums by HairFX developer Ivan Kolev, active development of HairFX has resumed with the goal to "at least match [their] competition's major advantages (styling, raytracing) until this year's Siggraph."

Check out these great animation tests of a Samba dancer created with Max.

Discreet Training Specialist Ken La Rue talks about some of the new features and improvements in Combustion 4, including the new Diamond Keyer, Capsules, B-Splines, and the time remapping Operator Time-Warp. Digital Producer has the article.

CG Academy has released “Operators 2”, the third in their Particle Flow Fundamentals series. This DVD covers in-depth another 13 Operators, the shape set, material set and other set (cache, note, render, script etc).

Cebas announced the release of FinalDOF and FinalFlares. FinalDOF is an all purpose Depth Of Field (DOF) and Motion Blur render effect while FinalFlares creates lensflares, glows and silhouette glows and offers full support for raytracing and object occlusion effects.

Desktop Motion Graphics and Visual Effects Artists will Benefit from Powerful New Creative Features, Interoperability, Interface and Speed Enhancements

MONTREAL, Feb. 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Discreet, the media and entertainment division of Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADSK) , today announced combustion® 4 software, the highly anticipated upgrade to its visual effects desktop software solution. combustion software for Windows® and Macintosh® will feature a complete set of sophisticated tools for visual effects creation, including vector paint, particles, effects, animation and 3D compositing tools. Version 4 is the company's most exciting combustion feature upgrade to date, and provides motion graphics and compositing artists new creative capabilities, interface improvements, new paint tools and enhanced interoperability with most 3D animation products including to Discreet's industry-leading 3ds max® animation software, and Discreet's cleaner® encoding software and its systems products including flint®, flame®, inferno®, fire® and smoke®.   [ more... ]

High-End Automated Tracking Toolkit Includes Flexible New Technologies

Oxford, UK: January 8th, 2005 – 2d3 has begun shipping boujou three, the third-generation of its award-winning professional 3D camera matchmoving software, and the most accurate and powerful matchmoving system available.

boujou three is designed for specialist tracking departments working on the most challenging shots, and complements boujou bullet, 2d3’s easy-to-use volume tracking solution.   [ more... ]

Act-3D announced the upcoming release of Quest3D version 3. The new version has many new improvements and features, including support for DirectX 9 HLSL shaders. A new family member will also be added to the product range; “Quest3D VR Edition” with support for a wider range of VR equipment.   [ more... ]

The hair plugin Ornatrix has been updated to version 1.2. Some of the significant changes include:
- Many improvements and bug fixes in area of strand and mesh generation
- New Ornatrix hair map, shader models, full vertex colors (and mapping) support, and enchanced tools for editing hair
- Improved rendering capabilities
- Many major and minor bug fixes
A 7 day trial version can be downloaded here.

Ah, but you already know the answer. Paul Hellard interviews Andy Murdock on the latest version of Lots of Robots. CGNetworks has the article.

Red Giant Software announced Film Fix, a set of plug-ins designed for documentary filmmakers and post production studios that need film and video restoration tools. Using Film Fix, After Effects and Digital Fusion users can restore tears, remove dust and dirt particles, and stabilize footage originated on film and video resolution material transferred from film. Read the whole PR for more.

Spanish artist Juan José Palomo has created a great short clip that uses the city of Barcelona as its inspiration. Max was used for modeling, Vray for rendering and Combustion for compositing. Visit 3DBlasphemy.com and go to Gallery->Personal->City. More information can be found on CGTalk.

E-On has posted more information on the upcoming version of their 3D landscape creation and animation program. A new EcoSystem feature allows users to easily populate scenes with millions of animated plants, rocks or any type of object. Vue 5 Infinite is priced at $599 and is scheduled for release by mid-March.

Point Oven v1.3b by Mark Wilson - Point Oven is a baking system that allows the users of LightWave, Messiah, Maya and 3ds max to interchange animation data. The baker modifier supports motion baking, allowing you to match lights, null objects and camera animation, and also supports multiple object simultaneous baking. Price is $99.

CGUnderground has had the great experience to interview the talented 3D artist Caroline Delen.

"ALAMEDA, Calif., Feb. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Perforce version 2004.2 has received Game Developer magazine's seventh annual Front Line Award. The award recognizes Perforce Software, maker of the Perforce Software Configuration Management System, for excellence and innovation in game development programming tools in 2004." Full PR here   [ more... ]